This invention relates to emergency evacuation systems for buildings, ships and other fixed and movable structures.
Individuals routinely work and live at elevations that do not permit safe free-fall drops in emergency situations. Ladders are often unavailable or inadequate in height. Jumping from a window or from a roof is many times the only tenable option. In practical terms, any fall in excess of five meters creates a grave probability of injury or death. Alternative evacuation plans for individuals, such as helicopter evacuations from roof tops, are time consuming, dangerous and often impossible due to fire, explosions, surrounding structures and weather.
Emergencies, such as fires, often limit escape options. The chaos and mass confusion that accompany emergencies increase evacuation times and delay rescues. Descending stairs in fire exits becomes a dangerous experience, as excessive numbers of excited people crowd into the exits, pushing and tripping one another in attempting to reach safety. Heat and toxic gases further complicate evacuations. Needs exist for evacuation systems that provide quick and easy escape routes.
Recent emergencies across the United States have demonstrated the need for quicker evacuation systems. During the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York, it took rescue workers over five hours to evacuate the buildings. While there was smoke and no power, other emergency conditions were ideal. There was no fire and no continuing threat. The buildings had strong structural integrity. Highly trained and well-equipped emergency services and personnel were readily available. Under non-ideal circumstances with fire, smoke and a continuing threat, a five hour evacuation would have inevitably resulted in a massive loss of life.
Needs exist for evacuation systems that, regardless of the circumstances, can evacuate structures proportional in size to the World Trade Center in a substantially shorter time than existing systems.
New evacuation systems must be compatible with existing structures. Installation of new evacuation systems must be economically feasible and must not require extensive modifications in the framework of the existing structures. Additionally, safety apparatus cannot interfere with other functional aspects of the building, and should not, when inactive, destroy the artistic integrity of the structure.
Existing emergency descent systems are inadequate. Most systems use permanently fixed structures and rely on springs and hydraulics to reduce an evacuee's rate of descent. Needs exist for evacuation systems that are simple, inexpensive, and mobile.